History of Balloon Flight
History of modern balloon flight starts with Joseph and
Etienne Montgolfier brothers. They were inspired by the
rising of a shirt that was drying above a fire. They threw
scraps of paper in the fireplace, which shortly afterwards
could be seen leaving the chimney together with the smoke
from the fire. They had observed that smoke tended to rise
and that paper bags placed over a fire expanded and also
rose. From this they mistakenly concluded that “smoke”,
and not hot air, had the power to lift. What they had actually
rediscovered was the theory of buoyancy, which the Greek
mathematician and philosopher Archimedes had discovered
in the second century B.C. In fact; Chinese stories dating
back to 200 B.C. mention about “sky-lanterns”, which were
miniature hot air balloons
Despite their mistaken belief, the Montgolfier brothers'
experiments led to the invention of the hot-air balloon. They
carried out the first experiment with a small scale balloon in
September 1782, proving their theory to be sound. In April 1783, the brothers gave
the first public demonstration of the hot-air balloon. On September 19, 1783, the
Montgolfier brothers let the first living beings be lifted by a hot-air balloon, namely: a
sheep, a hen and a duck. They made a flight in a cage suspended below the hot air
balloon. Barely a month later, on October 15, Francis Pilatre De Rozier, a member of
the Academy of Sciences, took off with a Montgolfier balloon and reached a height of
26 meters, the limit of the rope that held the balloon to the launching platform. This
was a “tethered flight”; balloons tied to the ground were called “captive balloons” or
“kite-balloons”. Finally on November 21, 1783, before a vast crowd of onlookers that
include the King and Queen of France, Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes made the first
untethered / free flight in the history of mankind - more than a century before the
Wright brother's historic powered and heavier-than-air flight at Kitty Hawk!
Ten days after the first manned hot air flight, a French physicist named Jacques
Charles made the first manned flight in a hydrogen-filled balloon. Ballooning became
quite popular for more than a century in Europe.
The first aerial crossing of the English Channel was achieved by a hydrogen filled
balloon on 7 January 1785, more than a century before Lois Bleriot was able to
accomplish the same feat by an aircraft. The heroes of this epic flight were
Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American Dr. John Jeffries. Their flight was
not without some excitement. At one point the balloon lost so much height over water
that they had to throw over almost all of their clothing to make the balloon regain
height and complete the journey.
The same year Blanchard and Jeffries crossed the Channel, a hot-air balloon
ascended at İstanbul marking the first flight over Turkish soil. The early balloon flight
demonstrations by foreigners in Istanbul were mostly regarded as amusement affairs.
After the balloon flight demonstrations in 1909, the dynasty and the army started to
show interest in balloons and aviation.
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METU- Dept. of History, Hist474
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The educated and the military quickly realized that a captive balloon could be an
excellent observatory on the battlefield. The history of air forces begins on April 2,
1794, when an “aerostatic company”, as the balloon units in the army were called,
was created in France. This was the very first step towards establishing military air
power. The first military use of a man carrying balloon for aerial reconnaissance was
by the French Republican Army in June 1794. Nevertheless, the difficult
transportation of the balloons and the construction of their hydrogen stove did not suit
the quick movements of the troops in the battlefield. Finally, by decree on February
18, 1799, the “aeronauts”, as the military people riding on these balloons were called,
were discharged and the military balloon school closed.
However, in the nineteenth century
balloons
acquired
military
significance again, as a means of
rising above enemy lines. They
were used for their intelligence
capabilities and as means of
transport. During the American Civil
War (1861 - 1865), both the Union
and Confederate armies used
balloons for reconnaissance. In
July 1861, the Union Army
advanced the employment of
balloons for military purpose by
using them to assist in-direct firing
of cannons.
On September 24, 1861, an observation balloon (hydrogen filled) of the Union Army
began telegraphing intelligence on the Confederate troops that were located about 5
km away. Union guns were aimed and fired accurately at the Confederate troops
without actually being able to see them - a first in the history of warfare.
As well as aerial reconnaissance and telegraphy, the Union Army also introduced the
use of balloon carrying water vessels, the forefathers of aircraft carriers. Several
ships were rebuilt with a flight deck superstructure and used for towing balloons while
an observer reported on the enemy action from the air.
The Confederate Army also formed a smaller version of the balloon corps, in the
spring of 1862. Unlike the hydrogen-filled Union balloons, they used Montgolfier
types - filled with hot air - because the Confederacy did not have the equipment for
generating hydrogen in the field. Later, they also used gas-filled balloons, but they
were not as successful in their deployment.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the German army had surrounded Paris
and had cut-off the city from the rest of France. Inside the city were few skilled
balloonists and material for balloon making. Balloons were used effectively to get
dispatches out of Paris. 66 balloon flights were made to remove more than 150
people - including the French Minister Léon Gambetta - and 9 tons of mail and other
cargo from the surrounded city of Paris by flying over the German troops. This was
the first use of aviation to support a city cut-off from the rest of the country.
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METU- Dept. of History, Hist474
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The Evolution of the Balloon, History of Dirigibles, the Airship
Airships were the logical development of the balloons. Balloons were simply large
spherical bags, called envelopes, filled with a lighter-than-air gas that literally floated
through the air. They could gain or lose height by discharging small quantities of
ballast or gas. Successful balloon flights had been made for over a century, but only
at the whim of the prevailing wind. The invention of the petrol-engine provided a way
of escaping this dependence on wind. By giving the envelope a streamlined profile,
powered balloons could be guided through the air in a similar manner to ships
crossing the seas – hence their name “airships”.
In September 1852, the Frenchman Henri Giffard rose in a steam-powered coal-gas
filled “dirigible balloon” from Paris. His
steam engine developed 3 hp and drove a
three-blade propeller with a diameter
slightly over 3 meters. Although his airship
was very slow, barely making 10 km/h,
and vulnerable even to light winds, his
flight showed that a lighter-than-air vessel
could be steered. Man had ascended
another step in mastering the skies; he
had accomplished powered and controlled
flight, but still without wings, which would
come some 50 years later.
Types of Airship
First was the simple non-rigid. This was a gas-bag, the shape of which was
determined by the internal pressure, with internal ballonets of air collected from the
slipstream, assisting in control.
The second type was the rigid airship. This was the Zeppelin solution, a strong but
light outer framework, consisting of radial frames joined together with longitudinal
elements, covered in linen. This framework contained a gas-bag between each radial
frame.
The third type, a cross between the other two types, was the semi-rigid. These had
envelopes which retained their shape through the internal pressure of the gas they
contained, but they also had a keel running along the bottom, giving greater rigidity
than a simple envelope. The advanced versions extended the superstructure to give
support at places that were subjected to heavy loads; such as the nose and the tail of
the airship.
After a fitful start, the method of “steering” airships settled down to a more or less
common system of cruciform (cross-shaped) surfaces at the rear of the envelope. To
these were attached rudders and elevators. Swiveling propellers were tried in pre1915 airships but were soon discarded because of their extra weight and the
complexity of mechanical linkages which were prone to malfunction. All airships
carried a considerable amount of ballast they could release to compensate for the
loss of gas.
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METU- Dept. of History, Hist474
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The greater the volume of
gas
that
an
airship
contained, the more weight
– in the form of engines, fuel
and payload - it could lift. In
the early days the German
Zeppelin, which used light
but inflammable hydrogen
gas, appeared to be the
ideal airship. Even with
multiple engines and several
tons of fuel, a Zeppelin had
a payload of several tons.
Multiple
engines
were
necessary if regular flights of hundreds of kilometers were to become the norm: they
ensured control and airspeed could be maintained if one (or more) of the engines
had to be shut down for any length of time.
The design of rigid airships started with two engines, increasing rapidly until the final
wartime Zeppelin “L.70” class had seven 245 hp Maybach engines. By 1915, these
rigid airships could leave their bases deep within the country and navigate – with no
external aids – over most of enemy territory, carrying a bomb load of several tons.
Unless exceptional bad weather or a lucky interception by the enemy’s defenses, a
return to base was certain. No other type of air vehicle attained this standard in range
and endurance for many years.
Prior to the beginning of the 20th century Great Britain had been accessible only by
sea, but events in 1909 and 1910 changed the situation. In July 1909 an aircraft
flown by Louis Bleriot crossed the English Channel. Then, in 1910, four more crossChannel flights were made – and three of these were by airships. That this should be
the case is not really surprising. The duration of an aircraft flight was measured in
minutes, whereas airship flights were all of several hours duration. While an aircraft
carried only its pilot and occasionally a passenger, airships could carry at least two
people and more, without difficulty. This established the early supremacy of airships
over heavier-than-air machines in terms of endurance and payload carrying capacity.
Another important factor was that an airship did not have to descend if its engine
failed. It could become a free-floating balloon, allowing the engine to be repaired in
flight, or, at worst, a relatively safe landing could be made by releasing gas slowly. It
also followed that the airship’s weight-lifting capability enabled two or more engines
to be carried, which further enhanced both reliability and performance.
Although at first it seemed a simple task to suspend a car containing engine and crew
below a streamlined elongated gas-bag, it soon became apparent that the task was
not that simple. For example, if the gas-bag was too long and thin, it sagged in the
middle. Therefore one reduced the length and increased width, which in turn
increased drag. To overcome the opposing force of drag more trust is needed; which
requires a larger and heavier engine. This in turn calls for a bigger envelope to lift the
increased weight – and so on. This relationship between length and width is known
as the “fineness ratio”.
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METU- Dept. of History, Hist474
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The aim of all airship designers was to produce a large envelope, rigid enough to
withstand the forces acting on it and with a volume large enough to lift certain
payload. To carry the payload, a suitable cabin (car - gondola) containing crew, cargo
and engines was attached to the envelope. Further below the envelope they were
attached, the greater the drag. The greater the drag, the more the power required to
control its direction! A common sight was even the most powerful airships “crabbing”
sideways in a strong crosswind due to their great side-area.
When the average person thinks of airships, they think immediately of the huge
Zeppelin-type rigid craft. The Zeppelins’ excellent performance quite rightly made
them a household name, which became synonymous with all rigid airships, whether
or not they were Zeppelins. German expertise with large rigid airships was
unchallenged for a long time.
The German company
Luftschiffbau
Zeppelin
(abbreviated “LZ”), owned
by Count Ferdinand Graf
von Zeppelin, was the
world's most successful
builder of rigid airships.
Zeppelin flew the world's
first
untethered
rigid
airship, the LZ-1, on July 2,
1900 in Germany. Zeppelin
continued to improve his
design and build airships
for
the
German
government. In June 1910, the “Deutschland” became the world's first commercial
airship. Until the beginning of World War One in 1914, German zeppelins flew more
than 170 thousand kilometers and carried 34 thousand passengers and crew safely.
Lighter-than-air vehicles during World War One
World War One (WWI) saw the use of balloons and especially the most widespread
usage of airships for reconnaissance, artillery observation and dropping of bombs
from the air. On May 31, 1915, the LZ-38 was the first Zeppelin to bomb London, and
other bombing raids on London and Paris followed. The airships could approach their
targets silently and fly at altitudes above the range of British and French fighters.
Weather conditions favored Zeppelins during their approach to the target; wind from
the east allowed the German airships to approach England in silence with engine off
and arrive over the target before they could be detected. After releasing its bombs,
the airship could gain more height quickly due to its reduced weight and start on its
return journey to home.
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METU- Dept. of History, Hist474
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F
Fighter aircraft were very slow at gaining
a
altitude; pilots were in
nexperiencced in nigh
ht flying.
A
Aircraft we
ere not de
esigned foor night flight; no
n
night flight instrumen
nts, no lighhts in aircra
aft or at
a
airfields. Because of these thee German airships
h
had relativ
ve ease at reaching their targe
ets and
d
dropping bombs from
m the air.
H
However, Zeppelins
s never bbecame effective
e
o
offensive weapons
w
because ttheir accuracy at
d
dropping bomb
b
from great heigght was ve
ery low.
T
They had to fly in darknesss with un
nreliable
nstruments
in
s and the
e return flight was
s made
a
against the
e wind. The flammabble Hydrog
gen gas
u
used for lifft made the
e mission pparticularly
y fatal if
ffighter airc
craft were able to ccatch up with
w
the
Z
Zeppelin an
nd shoot at
a it.
T
The effect of the Zep
ppelins waas not the amount
o
of material damage they infliicted, whic
ch was
ssmall, but iti was theirr psychologgical effec
ct on the
B
British sociiety.
ed to the German rigid
Oppose
airshipss, the Brritish prefe
erred
the no
on-rigid typ
pe of airs
ships.
The R
Royal Na
avy’s non-rigid
airshipss too were capablle of
flight quite beyon
nd that of their
aircraftt
equiva
alents.
Their
T
natural ability to
o fly “low and
n stationa
ary if
slow”, or remain
require
ed
were
exce
ellent
charactteristics. They
T
were ideal
for esscorting shipping and
searching the surface
s
off the
scope or a floating mine.
m
They
y could alsso be built quickly
sea forr a submarrine’s peris
and ma
anned by easily-trained volun teer crews
s. The “ba
attle-bags”,, as the non-rigid
airshipss were called by the
eir crews, had the advantage of operatinng in an airspace
a
where tthe enemyy had almost no contrrol.
The semi-rigid airships were no
ot very
popularr. Italy was
s the only ccountry tha
at made
use of semi-rigid
d airships extensively. Italy
emi-rigid airships eveen before WWI,
W
at
used se
the Otttoman-Italiian War of 1911-1
1912 in
North Africa.
A
Italy’s affinity w
with the se
emi-rigid
airships
s and the
eir successs with them is
attribute
ed to the relativelyy calmer weather
w
conditio
ons in the Mediterran
M
nean.
© Bülentt Yılmazer yilmazer195
y
[email protected]
m
METU
U- Dept. of History, Hist4774
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After the end of WWI, the German Zeppelin company supplied several rigid airships
to United States (U.S.). U.S. also built its own large rigid airships; opposed to the
German designs, the US airships used Helium gas. The U.S. airships, the Akron and
Macon were unique in that they developed and used the airplane launch and
recovery techniques in the air. Airships carrying aircraft for their own defense was an
old idea not realized before. Although U.S. lost most of its airships in accidents and
great loss of life occurred during these accidents, it was another accident with much
lesser loss of life that brought the end of the airship legacy.
When “Hindenburg” was built in 1936, the revived Zeppelin company was at the
height of its success. Zeppelins had been accepted as a quicker and less expensive
way to travel long distances than ocean liners provided. The Hindenburg was 248
meters long, had a maximum diameter of 41 meters, and contained 200 thousand
cubic meters of hydrogen in 16 cells. Four 1,100-horsepower Daimler-Benz diesel
engines provided power. The airship could hold more than 70 passengers in
luxurious comfort of an ocean
liner with a dining room, library, a
lounge with a grand piano, and
large windows to view the earth
below.
On May 6, 1937, as the
Hindenburg was preparing to
land at Lakehurst, New Jersey,
its hydrogen ignited and the
airship exploded and burned,
killing 36 people. Its destruction
marked
the
end
of
the
commercial use of airships for a
long time.
Lighter-than-air vehicles during World War Two
During World War Two (WWII) airships were used in somewhat more peaceful role
as a parachute jump trainer. Balloons were used in a defensive role as barrage
balloons (small blimps), which strung a spider web of cables across the sky over
critical target areas in hopes of snagging an enemy fighter or bomber.
Japan planned an offensive use of balloons, called the Fu-Go Weapon. These
balloons, with explosives attached to them, were released into the wind to be carried
across the Pacific and fall on American cities. Although Japan released thousands of
these balloons, only about 300 of these reached U.S. soil, mostly falling in sparsely
populated coastal regions.
Airships were also used for coast patrol, submarine watch and in the offensive role as
dropping depth charges on submerged submarines. However, because of the huge
advances in aircraft made during WWII, they were not effective as strategic weapons.
Military airships became as extinct as the dinosaur after WWII.
© Bülent Yılmazer [email protected]
METU- Dept. of History, Hist474
7/8
As a spo
ort, balloon
ning had disappeare
d
ed after WW
WI. This
was ma
ainly due to
o the fact that the gaas with wh
hich the
balloonss had to be filled
d had be come mu
uch too
expensi ve. A che
eaper me
ethod of aacquiring lift was
required
d to blow new life in
nto the spport of balllooning.
Designe
ers focused
d their atte
ention on tthe original hot-air
balloon.. The hot-a
air balloon
ns we see today are
e in fact
nothing more tha
an modern
nized Monntgolfier balloons.
The bigg
gest chang
ges that ha
ave been m
made are the use
of nylon
n for the balloon env
velope andd the use of
o liquid
propane
e to heat the air. Nowadayss, ballooning has
become
e a very po
opular sporrt, and the new adva
ances in
technolo
ogy enable
e the cons
struction off balloons in most
weird an
nd wonderrful shapes
s.
The futture of balloons and
d airships
s
al airships that
t
are of the semi-rrigid type have
h
been constructeed with the
e use of
Severa
new materials. Currently
C
th
hey are ussed for commercial purposes. A project named
“ISIS” has the design
d
goa
al to incorrporate a radar arra
ay into thee structure
e of the
airship.. Thus, a radar
r
with great
g
rang e and very
y wide coverage cann stay in the air for
extende
ed periodss of time to
o collect inttelligence.
As ballloons and airships can
c
be
used w
within an atmosphere of any
gas, a
autonomou
us flying robots,
r
called "aerobot" are plann
ned for
ation projeccts at the planets
p
explora
of the Solar System.
S
One
O
of
these has bee
en succe
essfully
eted in 1985 with the
comple
cooperration of Space
S
Res
search
Institute
e of Soviet Acade
emy of
Science
es and the French space
agencyy CNES.. Named
d the
“VEGA
A” project;; two ba
alloons
carrying
g instrum
ment packs to
measure temperrature, pre
essure,
wind speed and aerosol density
d
have
been
employed
d
for
explora
ation of the
e atmosph
here of
the p
planet Venus.
V
Another
A
futuristic projectt envision
ns the
oon to perform
p
use of a ballo
explora
ation at Titan, the largest
moon o
of the plan
net Saturn. Flying ab
bove obstrructions in the windss, a balloo
on could
explore
e large regions of a planet
p
in g reat detail for relative
ely low cosst. These projects
p
pose n
new techn
nological challenges
c
s because
e of the pressure,
p
temperatu
ure and
gassess in the envvironment where
w
theyy are expe
ected to ope
erate.
© Bülentt Yılmazer yilmazer195
y
[email protected]
m
METU
U- Dept. of History, Hist4774
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